The End is only the Beginning
by Rogalient3
Summary: He thought his mission was over, but he was wrong. Watch Naruto as he continues on with his life as a shinigami.
1. Prologue: Where am I?

**Hey everyone, I've finally got this thing done! Hopefully I did a good job with it.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Prologue: Where am I?**

"_...Where am I?..._" was the first thing that came to his mind as he felt a soft breeze brush against his skin and heard rustling from the leaves above him as well as the rushing water from the creek that was only a few feet to the left of him. He slowly opened his ocean blue eyes to take a look at his surroundings. He was lying under a tree that looked positively ancient and awkward as it was bent a little farther up from the where his head had been laying and took the form of a waxing moon, because the leaves' shadow shaded his face.

He was in a green forest with many trees surrounding him with the creek flowing through the trees, its clear blue water showing either trout or salmon that swam with the current and he had to admit that they looked extremely tasty and he was feeling a bit hungry. Needless to say, he was confused with his present predicament, he did not remember ever having been to this place.

He got up to his feet, still scanning the area around him, when he suddenly felt like something was calling to him from behind him. He turned around and saw it, perched right to the side of the old tree.

It was a sword, he could clearly see that it's pommel was pitch black and it had a half a meter long hilt, wrapped with a battered grey cloth. It's guard had a dull gold color to it and was a perfect circle that had nine small orbs that circled around the hilt. The crimson scabbard was over three and a half feet, it had a small white cloth tied a little bit below the hilt and it had two small stripes of cloth sticking out of the knot.

He walked over the blade and picked it up, studying it carefully. It was highly unlikely that someone had just left their sword right beside him, as well as the even more unlikely thought that the sword had been waiting for him crossed his mind or maybe it had appeared like he had to this unfamiliar place, he didn't know. Slowly he took the blade from its sheath and studied the beautiful silver blade.

Then it hit him like a wave. He saw what seemed like an endless desert with many hills surrounding him and at the top of one of them was an all too familiar figure. The shadow a giant fox loomed over him, his back turned to the blonde, and his gigantic nine tails swishing contently as he watched the moon high above him. Slowly he turned his head so that he could look at the boy with one of his giant red eyes.

"**...Naruto...**" he said the boy's name calmly as he continued to look at the blonde, "**...So it came down to this, eh?**" a simply question, one that Naruto couldn't understand, "**Listen well Naruto, when the time comes, when you've found them and are in search of more power, come find me. Only then will the two halves become one again...**" with those final words Naruto was thrust back into reality.

"Kyubi..." he muttered, eyes wide in shock when the memories suddenly flooded his head, giving him a headache as the memories raged inside his head.

_He was on Kumo's moving island, near the edge of the island with his friend and former jinchuriki, Gaara. He had stopped Kabuto from kidnapping Killer Bee, while he scolded mentally himself for letting down his guard that easily for deciding that the Akatsuki would never find the island again. He would've been in Killer Bee's situation right now if Bee hadn't taken and had knocked him out of the way and took the explosion for him, and Kabuto had nearly gotten away too if he hadn't stopped him._

_"Well well well...it's been awhile Naruto-kun," the now snake-like man said with an insane smile as he looked down at the blonde as he stood on Deidara's clay bird, his glasses glinting, "You've seemed to have gotten stronger since last we met." he chuckled evilly, knowing full well how strong Naruto because he was able to control Nagato now thanks to him_

_"Kabuto..." Naruto said coldly, glaring at Orochimaru's former subordinate, "Let him go now, or you'll regret it..." he said as he went into sage mode and entered a taijutsu stance._

_Kabuto laughed at that, "Oh really? Looks like someone's sure of himself," he said as he set Killer Bee down on the bird and let two large snakes come from his sleeves, "I can't kill the Hachibi or you because of Madara's plans, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind me roughing you both up a bit..." his smile turned sadistic as Deidara's hand went into his pouch._

_Naruto just stared indifferently at him as his eyes turned red, his pupils turned into a cross that was a combination of his toad eyes and his slitted eyes, his hair grew longer and spikier, his whisker marks thickened, and his canines and nails grew into fangs and nail, and having red rings appear on his eyes, he had entered hybrid mode, "Let's go!" he roared as he and Gaara jumped at the pair.._

He opened his eyes as he felt his headache eased up a bit, but it wasn't over. It soon returned with more of his memories flashing through his head.

_The area was filled with nothing but craters with smoke coming from them. The smell of blood was heavy in the air as he and his comrade, whom he had luckily saved from Kabuto, had defeated countless shinobi wearing black clothes with the red cloud insignia that were foolish enough to challenge the two jinchuriki._

_He looked at the older jinchuriki, a man that was at least twice his height, dark skin, his eyes covered by sunglasses, five of his seven swords sheathed on his back, the other two in each hand, and his newest blade, Samehada, he had it use the chakra it stole from their enemies to rejuvenate the little that they had lost in the battle._

_Once the sword was finished, he gave it a welcomed thanks, which caused the sword to shake it's tip with what he guessed was appreciation, and it went back to the elder jinchuriki._

_He turned to older man, gave him his trademark fox-grin and asked, "I'm ready for more training, you up for it Bee?"_

_Killer Bee just gave him a raised eyebrow and smirked, then going into one of his raps, "Yo man, there's always a time for the flow, but right now your jinchuriki powers, they gotta grow! So come on Na-ru-to!" the two just looked at each other, then leapt towards one another..._

_The scene changed to where the entire ninja alliance was in attendance as Tsunade made her way so that she could be seen atop of the Hokage Tower._

_She took in a breath as she announced "From this day forth I shall step down as Hokage and become the acting Hokage for someone else, someone who has long since deserved this title," she began as everyone's' attention was on her, "He has shown true dedication to this village. He has saved this village and it's people time and time again and is still willing to throw down his life for it. He has shown to be as every bit of a leader as his father before him and he will help us defeat the Akatsuki," with one final breath she shouted, "I present to you Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage!"_

_At that the entire alliance was in a deafening roar of applause and cheering as Naruto himself stepped forward. He blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head as he saw his friends cheering him on and he nearly face-faulted as he saw that Killer Bee was waving a flag that said 'Go Naruto!' with an anime version of his face, Killer bee's, and some crude drawings of what he thought was Hachibi and Kyubi on it._

Naruto opened his eyes as his headache calmed down a bit again. He sat down and leaned against the tree as he thought of the memories that had just went through his head, he couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled that ridiculous flag that Bee had made.

"_That's right,_" he thought with a smile, "_I became the Hokage, and that was a hell of a job...especially with all that paperwork,_" he shuddered as he remembered the mounds of paper stack on his desk, "_At least I was able to use my Kage Bunshins to clear it up, why nobody but me thought about that I'll never know._" but another flash of memories interrupted his thoughts.

_He, Bee, and Gaara were surrounded by the bodies of all the Akatsuki who were all supposed to be dead as well as the newly made body of Hidan, who's head was stitched to it, and Kabuto who had a another coffin beside him. However, none of that concerned Naruto, what he was really worried about was the young woman whose body was wrapped up by two snakes, gagged with a rag, and laid upon the ground._ _Her lavender eyes looked at him desperately as she struggled against her bindings, her long dark blue hair was spread around the ground._

_"I'm sorry about this Naruto-kun but I've got to capture you and the Hachibi, I can't fail again or I won't be able to obtain the things I need from Madara, but Gaara however, he can just die here." Kabuto said with a sly grin as he bent down and grabbed Hinata by the hair, which sent Naruto into a rage._

_"LET HER GO!" he roared as he entered his controlled jinchuriki form and the three charged the Akatsuki members._

_The scene changed again to show himself kneeling down as he held Hinata in his arms, the battle ending with Kabuto retreating as all but Nagato, Sasori, Konan, Kisame, and Deidara being destroyed completely, and not revealing what was in the coffin. However, before retreating Kabuto had fatally injured Hinata, leaving a bleeding wound in her chest._

_"I...I've always loved you Naruto-kun..." she whispered before she coughed, a small bit of blood dribbled from her mouth, "...Ever since I first met you...I..I always dreamed about saying that to you...but..I was too shy to say anyt-"_

_She was interrupted by him kissing her, her lavender eyes grew wide as she realized the love of her life was kissing her._

"_I love you too Hinata-chan..." was all that he said as he gave her a sad smile. She smiled at him as she slowly closed her eyes and her breathing suddenly stop._

Naruto realized that he was crying and began wiping the tears from his eyes, but the visions didn't end there.

_The sky was dark and cloudy, but on one cared about it as the giant battle raged on between the Akatsuki forces and the ninja alliance, however there were a few key characters that were just out of reach from the battle. Naruto, Killer Bee, as well as team Kakashi and the other Kages were staring face to face with Sasuke, Kabuto, Zetsu, the dead Akatsuki members, and to everyone's shock, the Rikudo Sage, who was the one that Kabuto had in the coffin._

_"Sasuke!" Naruto roared as he ran at his old friend with a rasengan._

_"Finally we get to see who's stronger..." Sasuke muttered as he too charged Naruto with a chidori._

Naruto stood up and walked over to the creek, he knelt before the flowing water and suddenly grabbed a fish from the creek and tossed it over to the trunk. He felt like he needed to do something as the memories still flashed through his mind.

_The surrounding field was completely destroyed, showing nothing but a crater and the two sixteen year olds in it for up to a mile. He looked his old friend in the eyes as he saw the realization of what had happened reach him. They had both finished their fight with his rasengan and Sasuke's chidori piercing each other's hearts, and they both knew that there would be no surviving their wounds._

_"I-It can't b-be...?" Sasuke muttered as his hand fell from Naruto's chest._

_"I-I told you Sasuke," Naruto told him as he fell on his knees, while Naruto himself still stood, "If we fought each other, we'll both die..." he said as Sasuke closed his eyes and fell on his back._

_Slowly Naruto began walking past the battered corpses of the fallen kages, knowing that they had died fighting the Akatsuki members and the Rikudo Sage, with him having to kill the Sage after he was done with the kages with a barrage of rasenshurikens. He didn't know about his team and Kabuto though, but he was sure that they were still alive, and grew sad as he knew that Bee had been taken by Zetsu to have Hachibi extracted._

_But he was now concerned about finishing this war once and for all before his wound killed him. The scene then changed once more to show the Akatsuki base going up in flames as an explosion suddenly occurred and a certain blonde sent flying through the air with his comrade's body in his arms and a scream that came from the founder and leader of the Akatsuki, Madara Uchiha, himself._

_"UZZUMAKKIII NARRUTTOOO!" came the bearer of the eternal mangekyo sharingan as the wound he was afflicted with made him fall to his knees, and was then engulfed by another explosion, which destroyed both the old Uchiha, Zetsu, and the Gedo Mazo statue._

_The next thing Naruto knew, he was shaken awake by a young woman his own age, her hair the color of sakura blossoms, her eyes a shade of brilliant green, and was covered in injuries, the most lethal being a bleeding wound around her hip and stomach, but she ignored it as she still kept trying to keep him alive._

_"Naruto wake up! Please, please wake up! I'm begging you please don't die!" she cried, tears running down her face as she was now performing medical to him. He grabbed her hands and gave her one last smile as he closed his eyes, he could no longer hear her pleadings, and smiled contently as he exhaled his last breath._

Naruto sighed as he built himself a fire and began cooking his ten fish on some sticks he had found, he knew what the memory that was coming was, and he knew that it would be the final one in this string of memories because it was the one that came to him as if he were reliving it.

_He found himself within the carnage of the battle between the two forces, what remained of the ninja alliance celebrated in triumph as everyone in the battlefield was watching the Akatsuki base go up in flames, the area littered with the dead bodies of the white Zetsu army. He looked down to check on his body and found something that wasn't on him before. It was a chain, a chain that was attached to his chest, and for some reason he got the feeling he shouldn't mess with it, so he decided to look around._

_He walked through the battlefield to a familiar field where he found three bodies, one's head on top of the other's chest. The one that was on the ground was a young man with spiky blonde hair, with three whisker marks on each cheek that would remind anyone of a fox, and a content smile on his face. The smile was that of someone who had never given up, someone who had finished his job and could finally rest in peace._

_The second body was that of a young woman that had pink hair, her eyes closed as her head rested against the other's chest. Her face was so peaceful she could have been sleeping but her wound gave it away that she wasn't sleeping, and the third body was that of a well built man with dark skin, a smile also adorning his face, like he'd had one last victory before dying__._

_"Another soul, eh?" came a voice form behind him. Naruto turned around to see a lone figure approaching him, dressed in a black shihakusho, not unlike he had seen some of the samurai dressed in and a katana around his waist. He had messy light blonde hair and dark blue eyes that portrayed a calm demeanor as he walked towards Naruto._

_"This is a complete disaster," the man said as he looked at the chaos that was around them, "With this many people dead, it won't be long until Hollows are drawned to here," he sighed as he drew his blade, "Don't worry about it kid, this'll be over in a moment."_

_Naruto immediately jumped backwards and entered a taijutsu stance, but would soon wish he wouldn't , because he suddenly felt like he had been through one of Pervy Sage's crazy training methods and he fell to one knee._

_"Impressive," the man said as he walked up to the fellow blonde, his sword resting on his shoulder, "Normally newly severed souls like yourself can barely move at all at first, let alone jumping around like that."_

_All Naruto could say was "Say what?..."_

_"I'm sorry to tell you this," the man said sadly, "But your dead."_

_"Oh, I already knew that..." Naruto told him with a wave of his hand, nearly causing the man to face-fault, "It's kinda obvious when you see my body over there."_

_"...Then all I need to tell you is where you're going," the man said as he raised his sword, the butt pointed to Naruto's head, "Souls like yourself must be sent to the Soul Society, don't worry it's peaceful enough there." he said with a smile._

_"Before you do can you answer my something?" Naruto asked, earning a nod from the taller blonde, "Who are you?"_

_The man smiled slightly as he answered the boy's question, "Urahara Kisuke, I'm a shinigami..." he told him as he pressed the pommel of the sword onto the boy's forehead. Naruto was then covered by a blinding light and disappeared._

"...So this is the Soul Society, eh," Naruto muttered to himself as he took a bite from one of the cooked fish, "_Well I guess I'm stuck here...but it doesn't seem that bad."_

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**Well there it was, my first chapter, I hoped you all like it and I'll see you next time!**


	2. Meeting Again

**Hey Everybody, I'm back and I've got a new chapter up. It's taken me awhile since I've been busy with sports and all that, but I'm happy to say my season is over and I'm back to writing, so it shouldn't be long before I update this thing again!**

**Hope You like this chapter!**

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**Chapter 1: Meeting Again**

The sun rose up lazily over the sky, it was a beautiful sight for anyone who had the time to watch it, but almost no one was watching except for a certain blonde man that was watching it from the window of a run-down shack that was a little ways from town. He figured that the street vendors and stall owners in the town were up and about, getting everything ready for the new day.

Stifling a yawn, he turned to look at the one thing that actually looked new in the shack, a datebook. He walked over to it and opened it to where the bookmark was sticking out and let out a sigh as he saw the little piece of writing he had put next to the date. Six months, he had been here for over half a year and he still hadn't found any of his friends no matter where he looked.

Naruto quickly pocketed the small book and grabbed his covered red katana as he left the shack, deciding to do some looking around since he had nothing better to do. As he walked through the town, he thought about how his life right now was only slightly different from the one he had in Konoha. At least in Konoha he had an apartment with a bed and food to eat, but here he had come with only his jumpsuit and what was left in his weapon pouch and for some reason, a scroll that contained his favorite book 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' and the four volumes of 'Icha Icha' he had gotten from Jiraiya, much to his distress.

He had to get rid of his orange and black jacket, for it was completely ruined and most likely beyond repairable and the pants were torn to shreds. He was, however, able to keep his shinobi sandals, and he was now wearing an orange kimono with black flames on the bottom of it.

As Naruto made his way into town and walked down the street, stopping only once when he saw a mirror hanging from one of the stores and he saw his reflection, gaining a small smile as he looked at himself. In the past six months he had been steadily began to look more like his father, his blonde hair grew longer and more unkempt than it had been before, and he had even grown two or three inches. Naruto doubted that even the Pervy Sage would be able to tell them apart, that is if he ever found his perverted ass.

Naruto sighed as he thought about his godfather. He was one of the people that he had wanted to find when he had first arrived to the Soul Society, but so far he hadn't had any luck. He had searched through all the hot springs and anything that would attract Jiraiya's attention. However, finding the Pervy Sage was another story entirely, because with him and everyone else Naruto wanted to find, it was like searching for a handful of needles in a haystack, a very big haystack. He was currently residing in the 78th district of the West Rukongai, one of the many districts where souls live.

It was called Inuzuri (howling dogs) and wasn't one of the best places to be. Most of the residents were very secluded to themselves and weren't above stealing food and water from one another, or killing others to obtained them. The only ones that were actually nice and opened with others were the salesmen and vendors that had set up shop in the area, but they were only nice if you didn't try stealing from them.

Naruto's train of thought was interrupted as he heard his stomach growling. With another sigh he thought about how when he had first met a group a people as he came out of the forest. They had given him some information about the Soul Society, like how you would never grow old or grow hungry here.

"_Hah! 'Never hungry' like hell that's true!_" Naruto thought as he made his way to one of the few places he actually liked in Inuzuri, the Inuzuri ramen stand. He was on good terms with the owner ever since the he saw how Naruto was able to eat over twenty bowls of every kind of ramen he had.

However, he was only a few yards from the when heard noises coming from behind him and knew what was happening, someone had stolen from the vendors again. It wasn't surpising since it nearly happened four times a week, since some people needed food or water and when they couldn't get it, they'd steal from the vendors, which usually ended in two ways, one was that the thief is successful and gets away, or the other way was that the thief gets caught and either beaten horribly or killed by the vendors.

He turned around to see a little boy and girl, both somewhere between ten to twelve years old, with the boy having silver hair and the girl strawberry blonde, run from two men who were chasing them with a rusted sickle and what looked like a dull clever. He saw them run into an alleyway and knew from past experience that it was a dead end.

"Looks like this'll be an eventful morning..." Naruto muttered as he watched the two men that were chasing them turn into the alleyway. Naruto quickly turned with a spin of his heel and sped towards the alleyway. He saw that the girl was curled into a ball, crying silently while the boy put himself between her and the men while the vendors kept punching and kicking him everywhere they could hit him.

"You think you two could steal from us you little brats!" the taller one, a bald man with who looked like he was missing a few teeth shouted as he grabbed the boy roughly by his hair and threw him onto the ground.

"How about we teach them a little lesson?" the smaller one with a mess of gray hair asked as he raised his sickle over his head, clearly aiming for the girl's head. He swung, but it never came close to the girl.

Naruto had stepped in right as he swung, one hand holding onto the sickle as his other was reeled back into a fist. Before anyone realized what had happened, the man was sent flying backwards and out of the alley. The taller man just stared at his fallen partner in disbelief as he slowly turned his head to the former shinobi, and noticing how cold his stare was.

"Leave..." was all Naruto said as he continued to glare at the man, causing him run away, pick up his partner and yell back at him 'T-This isn't ov-over', "_Like that line hasn't been used before..._" he thought as he turned his attention to the two kids to see the girl placing herself between him and the boy. He knelt down by them and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder while saying "It's alright; they won't hurt you two anymore..."

Slowly the girl raised her head and looked at Naruto with her icy blue eyes, he saw that she was still crying softly as she tried to detect any form of trickery from him, and he noticed the small beauty mark under the right side of her mouth, while the boy's features were like that of a fox as his eyes were squinting. Smiling softly, he reach out and started ruffling the girls hair which caused the girl to flinch for a second then let out a content sigh letting him know that she liked it. Naruto wiped the dirt from her face but stopped when he heard her stomach rumbling, which in turned caused the small girl to blush.

With an amused smirk, he got up and told her, "Follow me, I'll show you two a good place to eat," immediately the girl stood up with him and grabbed his hand, and looked like she wasn't about to let go while the boy just stood up and followed him wordlessly, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what are your names?" he asked as they left the alley.

In a small voice the girl answered, "Mastumoto Rangiku..."

"I'm Ichimaru Gin." the boy simply said

"Rangiku and Gin, huh? Well it's nice to meet you both." Naruto said with a grin as were about to start heading towards their destination.

Gin looked at his and his friend's savior, opening his eyes to reveal his bright sky blue eyes, "Thank you for helping us Naruto-san." Gin thanked him, but then suddenly winced and put his hands on the spot on his head where the blonde had flicked him, both he and Rangiku looked at Naruto with looks that screamed 'Why?'.

"I don't like being called 'san' Gin, it makes me feel old," Naruto told them, then added, "So just call me Naruto-niichan, and for every time you both call me 'san' I'll flick you each on the head until you get in right understand," the two kids nodded their heads, Naruto's grin reappeared on his face, "Good, now let's get you guys something to eat!" and proceeded to take them to his destination.

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The Inuzuri's ramen stand, in Naruto's opinion was good, but still nowhere near as good as Ichiraku's. It did however, have its own style of originality when it came to its ramen. The owner, an old guy by the name of Taka, was always experimenting with different kinds of ramen that anyone would usually find him in the kitchen brewing up something new.

More often than not he was able to figure out a good recipe, like how he was able to make a fruit ramen and give his usually good salmon ramen an extra kick with some of the spices he had. He had set up shop a little down the road on the main street, so it was always easy to find.

As soon as Naruto, Gin, and Rangiku pushed through the curtain, they found the old man right in the kitchen, his back turned to them, and with what looked to be another experiment going on, if the smell of oranges had anything to do with it.

"Hey Naruto-kun, I'm guessing the usual miso ramen," Taka asked as he got up and turned to see his usual customer, and was surprised to see a little girl holding onto his hand and a little boy standing next to him, "And two for the kids I take it?" he asked.

"Yep," Naruto said with an enthusiastic nod, "Hey old man how come you always know it's me?" he asked as the three sat down, Naruto also setting his sword beside him.

"Because you're my only customer that comes here first thing in the morning." The old man snorted as he continued making the ramen. "So what happen?" he asked as he started mixing the noodles, indicating to Rangiku and Gin, the strawberry blonde girl was looking all around the bar with interest, while the silver haired boy just looked between the two older men.

"A couple of thugs were beating Rangiku-chan and Gin up in an alleyway," Naruto replied with a frown, "After I took care of them, I figured they could use a meal so I brought them here."

"Again with those damn vendors beating up on poor little kids," Taka said with a sigh, "Nearly all the adults around here are up to something illegal in the back districts, and the kids have no one to look up to or to take care of them which usually ends up with dying young, it just never ends." he said with another sigh.

"For the afterlife, this place is just as bad as the world of the living." Naruto said with a frown as he remembered parts of his past.

"All too true kid." Taka agreed.

A few minutes later their ramen was ready, and Naruto happily ate his extra helping of miso ramen with the same enthusiasm he had back in Ichiraku's. Rangiku just looked at the food for a few seconds, before quickly taking her chopsticks and started wolfing down her ramen exactly like him as well, while Gin took his time with his bowl as he stared at the two.

"You two could be related…" Taka muttered under his breath as he turned back to the kitchen, unaware that Gin was mentally thinking the same thing.

"So Gin, Rangiku-chan, do you two have any family?" Naruto asked as he set down his bowl.

Rangiku stopped eating and slowly put down her bowl, a sad look on her face as she just stared down into her bowl, while Gin stopped eating for a second to shake his head and went back to eating his bowl. Naruto had guessed that they were orphans and by the way they were acting he had guessed right.

"We don't have any family…I was alone for awhile before I met Gin, and ever since then we've been living together" Rangiku said softly, while Gin nodded his head to confirm it was true.

Naruto looked at the two for a moment before breaking out into a grin and ruffled their hair, "Well now you two have got a big brother to look after you both," which earned him surprised but happy looks from the kids, "Yo Taka, another couple of bowls!" Naruto called to the old man.

"You got it kid!" was the old man's reply.

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"_You've got to be kidding me..._" he thought as he walked down the street, "_Why in all of the Soul Society, does the thing she wants has to be in the Inuzuri district, why couldn't it have been a closer one like the fourth district?_" he complained as he looked at the small bit of paper that had the directions to wear he was going. As he walked, the residents of Inuzuri observed his black shihakusho and the sheathed Zanpakuto, taking in the rare sight of a Shinigami walking through their hell hole of a district.

His name was Kisuke Urahara, and he couldn't believe he had been convinced by his old friend to come all the way out here just for something so small. And he still couldn't believe that they argued about it for about half an hour over who would go and get it, but like most of their arguments she usually won.

"Geez Yoruichi, if you cared that much about it, why didn't you go get it yourself..." he muttered as he imagined her sitting in her chair, grinning widely at another victory, and could only sigh at the thought. He soon came to a stop at a certain stand that had the delicious smell a ramen and a sign over it that read 'Inuzuri's ramen'. "Ah…here we are…" he said as he walked towards the stand.

He entered the stand to find an old man, a little girl with strawberry blonde hair, a little boy that had silver hair and a fox like appearance, and a young man with spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and three whisker marks on each cheek. For some reason Kisuke felt like he knew the boy from somewhere.

"Do I know you?" he asked curiously.

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Taka had just given Naruto, Rangiku, and Gin their second bowls and where about to dig in again when someone had entered the stand. They turned around to see a man with messy light blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and was wearing a black shihakusho and a sheathed katana at his waist. Naruto immediately recognized him, how could he not remember the face and name of the man that had sent him here.

"Do I know you?" the man asked curiously.

Naruto slowly nodded his head and said, "It's been a while, Urahara Kisuke..."

That's when it hit him. Six months ago the world of the living had entered a major war, causing hundreds, maybe even thousands of deaths to happen. He remembered he and his squad of Shinigami were sent there to fight off what would have surely been an army of hollows, as well as Konso any of the departed souls to the Soul Society if they found any. That was why the boy seemed familiar, he was the first soul that he had saved in that onslaught.

"You're that boy I found on that battlefield!" Kisuke said, pointing a finger at Naruto. Naruto only nodded and gestured towards the empty seat next to Gin, however the boy moved so that way the Shinigami could sit next to Naruto while he went over and sat with Rangiku. Kisuke placed his order and for a few minutes, sat in an uncomfortable silence with Naruto while the latter finished his bowl.

"...oh! I never told you my name did I," Naruto asked, patting his fist with his palm and looking at Kisuke, who sweat-dropped and nodded, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." he said, smiling and holding his hand out, which Kisuke shook nervously.

"...You're not angry at me for sending you here without even explaining what was going on?" Kisuke asked.

"Not anymore-I mean don't get me wrong, I was pissed when I first got here but later on I figured if a Shinigami had sent me here then you probably had a good reason for it," Naruto said bluntly before a small smile graced his lips, "Care to explain now that we have the time?" he asked as Taka returned with Kisuke's bowl and told him it was on the house, earning a confused look from the Shinigami.

"It's a thank you for sending my best customer over here!" Taka said with a laugh while Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Then out of the corner of both Kisuke's and Naruto's eyes, they saw a small group of about thirty to thirty-five men heading in their direction with some of them wielding rusty weapons, and Naruto saw the two idiots he had creamed earlier leading the group towards them. Taka's expression turned to a serious one and when Rangiku turned to see what they were all staring at, she immediately grabbed onto Naruto's kimono, while Gin's opened his eyes and glared at the group of men.

"Wait here, I'll be done with this shortly." he said to Kisuke and gave a reassuring pat on the head to Rangiku, then left the stand.

Noticing Kisuke was about to get up, Taka said, "Don't worry about Naruto-kun. Just sit back and enjoy the show." confused at what the old man said, Kisuke, Gin, and Rangiku decided to do what he said and sat back down.

* * *

"Come on guys," Naruto said with a fake smile, "You knew that you were beating a couple of kids to death right?"

"Shut up you jackass," the grey haired man roared in anger, spit flying from his mouth, "We're gonna make you pay for humiliating us!"

"You heard him boys, get 'em!" the bald man shouted as the men charged him.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Naruto grinned wildly as he put his hands together into a cross shaped hand sign and muttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu..."

Suddenly five puffs of smoke appeared and five Narutos jump out of them, each one landing into the crowd and began quickly dispatching the thugs while the original Naruto turned around and went back into the stand.

"Naruto-niichan, that's amazing!" Rangiku said as he sat down, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked back at the other Narutos who where now throwing the thugs around as if they were as light as feathers.

"How'd you do that," Gin asked, completely stunned at what he was seeing as he watched a cloned shout 'One Thousand Years of Death!' and jab his two middle and index fingers into a guy's butt and sent him flying, "On second thought, don't tell me." He muttered with a sweat drop.

Kisuke, however, displayed a calculating look on his face as he looked from the five Narutos to the one that was with them, smiling and ruffling the small girl's hair. Was it some sort of rare and exotic Kido? He had never seen such a spell before, and he knew they weren't illusions, the bodies were physically touching and injuring the mob so it couldn't be a Bakudo, perhaps a new type a Hado? The scientist within Kisuke had been awakened and was ready to study this power.

However his train of thought was broken when he saw a lone figure run from the group and headed straight for Rangiku, a rusty sword in his hand. He needed to act and was about too when Taka pressed a hand firmly onto his shoulder and flashed him a quick smile.

The man was upon Rangiku, his sword raised above his head and swung with the intention of killing the girl, but for some reason he had stopped. With speed that no one but Taka knew, Naruto had drawn his katana from the wrappings and blocked the sword and was effortlessly holding it up with just one arm. Suddenly Naruto kicked the man in the stomach, sending him flying from the stand, while Naruto himself just idly walked towards him with his katana resting on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't have done that," Naruto said menacingly as the entire mob looked at him in fear, "Here's a little warning, if you dumbasses ever lay a finger either her or the boy's head, I'll beat you within an inch of your life." and with a simple swing, destroyed the rusty katana.

"Wh-Wh-Who are you!" the bald man from earlier asked in fear as the five Narutos disappeared in smoke.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, the former Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha!" Naruto told them, sending some killing intent upon the mob, which caused them to flee in panic. Satisfied that his work was finished he made his way back to the others.

"You see, in the six months that he's been here, Naruto-kun has gotten into nearly a two hundred fights all around the Rukongai and has not once lost any of them." Taka told them as Rangiku looked at the blonde with a light blush adorning her cheeks, while Gin looked at Naruto with a awe-strucked look on his face, and Kisuke was thinking thoroughly at the possibilities of what he was about to ask.

When Naruto rejoined them he said "Naruto I have a proposition for you."

* * *

**Well I hoped you all liked it, I was thinking about Naruto having some sort of bond with a couple of the kids around this time, so I decided on using Gin and Rangiku since they were the only ones I knew of that weren't at the Seireitei at this time, and I figured it would be a good part in the story later on.**

**Well I'll hopefully have this updated soon, so see you all later!**


	3. Battle of the Flashes

**Hey everybody, I back sooner than I originally expected. I nearly done with my Naruto Mahou Sensei chapter so I figured I'd finish this one up before any thing else.**

**Well enough waiting, on to the show!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 2: Battle of the Flashes**

"So what's the proposition?" Naruto asked after he asked Taka for another bowl.

Kisuke took a few minutes finishing his ramen before answering the fellow blonde. With a satisfied sigh he look at Naruto, "Tell me Naruto, how much do you know of the Shinigami." he asked, before taking out his slip of paper and handing it to Taka, asking for the order that was on it.

"Not much really, I just know the stories about them in the world of the living," the former shinobi answered as he went straight for his third bowl, "Shinigami are spirits who reap the souls of the departed and send them to the afterlife..." he paused for a bit as he remembered something from his past. He had met a Shinigami before, the one that had place the seal on his father's stomach when he had sealed himself and half of Kyubi's chakra when he was a baby, although he didn't personally meet it. His hand unconsciously pressed itself on his stomach, where his Fuin Shiki seal was still placed on his stomach, even though he had died.

"That's the basic principle anyway," Kisuke told him, taking a drink from his glass of water before he continued speaking, "But there's more to it than that. In the world of the living there are two different types of souls. The first are Wholes, which are normal human souls, and the second type are Hollows." he paused, taking another gulp of water.

Naruto gave Kisuke his full attention, nodding his head for him to continue.

"The Hollows are basically humans that have remained Wholes for too long," he said, continuing his explanation, "Their loneliness and despair consumes them, corrupting their souls and turning them into monsters, hunting Wholes or living humans who have caught their attention," Kisuke looked at Naruto, who was still giving him his full attention, and showed him two fingers, "A Shinigami has two jobs. The first is to send Wholes to the Soul Society by performing a Konso, or Soul Burial, and the second is to vaporize the Hollows and purify their souls so that they can enter the Soul Society."

"What about making contracts with people in the world of the living so they can seal something?" Naruto asked his curiosity about the Shiki Fujin seal that his father had used suddenly coming forth.

"Shinigami making contracts with humans," Kisuke said, putting a hand on his chin as he contemplated about the idea, "Hmmmm...I've never heard anything like that before, why do you ask that?" Kisuke asked, looking at Naruto curiously.

"No reason...just something from my past," Naruto said as he placed his hands together and rested his chin on them.

"Really, and what would that be?" Kisuke asked.

"Nothing...it's nothing..." Naruto muttered, and Kisuke understood that it wasn't something that he wanted to bring up.

It was silent for a while as Naruto thought over what Kisuke had just told him. He looked at Rangiku and saw that she was looking confused as she just looked at her bowl and nearly laughed at it. She reminded him of how he was when he was a kid and how he struggled to comprehend the things Iruka and the old man used to tell him, but ended up failing miserably, while Gin was giving the two his full attention, taking everything they said in ease.

Finally Kisuke broke the silence, "Tell me, what exactly you did back there?" he asked.

"Oh you mean my kage bunshins," Naruto asked before continuing, "All I did was use my chakra to make physical clones of myself." he told Kisuke.

"Chakra?" Kisuke inquired with an eyebrow raised, the term was familiar to him but he couldn't quite remember what it meant.

"It's what allows us shinobi to perform our jutsus, like my kage bunshins," Naruto explained, then went on to explain how chakra work, and once he was done he gained a thoughtful look, "I've met some former ninjas while I've been here and they've all said the same thing, that they've lost all their jutsu and can't use chakra anymore, while I can still channel my chakra and use my jutsus to their fullest potential."

"Do you have any clues to why that is?" Kisuke asked.

"Well...the Uzumaki clan was known for their vitality and their unusually strong chakra, so maybe that's the reason why I'm able to," Naruto answered, although he knew full well that it had nothing to do with his clan, but that it was about the part of Kyubi's chakra that he still had control of. He had found out within the first week he arrived that he still had Kyubi's chakra and deduced that it was fueling his chakra, allowing him to use his jutsu, "_But how long will it last, the amount keeps getting smaller everytime I use my jutsu._ " he wondered before turning to Kisuke, "Listen Kisuke, what exactly is this proposition of yours?" he asked.

"Naruto, you have the ability to become a Shinigami." Kisuke said, smiling.

"I do?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Yes," Kisuke said while nodding his head, "The difference between Shinigami and regular souls is that their life force or reiryoku has developed to the point where they can harness and learn to control it at will. You've already shown that you can do that by still being able to use your abilities that should have been lost when you had died, but there's an easier test than that, simply put is the fact that you can feel hunger means that you possess reiryoku."

Naruto stayed silent, thinking over what he had just heard. He had the potential to become a Shinigami, Naruto found that astounding. He had figured that Kisuke would want him to come back with him and study his chakra since he figured the Shinigami was the scientific type, but this was a surprise. And on top of that, he could use his powers to still protect others, and hopefully, find his friends and his perverted sensei.

Seeing that Naruto was in deep thought Kisuke said, "If you're unsure about it, then come with me. I'd like to introduce you to a few people," he looked down towards Rangiku and Gin, as they had become more interested in the conversation, "I'm sure you both have realized that you have it as well, but I think you two should wait a few more years before you two decide on anything." he advised them, causing their heads to sink with disappointment.

Naruto let out a sigh as he thought about leaving the poor kids, but an idea popped into his head, "Hey I know, I can give you two my place to live if you want and all the money I've got stored up for you to live on," Naruto suggested, then added, "And I'm sure Taka will look after you guys while I'm gone, that sound good?" the idea seemed well enough for the two kids, so the agreed.

"You can count on me, Naruto-kun! I'll take care of them," Taka said as he walked up to the counter with a massive bag in his hands, and was grinning with obvious delight at either whoever liked his ramen that much, or how much money his was about to make, or both, "Here's your order Kisuke-kun, I don't know who orders a hundred orders worth of my sweet salmon ramen, but they've made me a very happy old man!" Taka practically sang as he handed the bag to Kisuke.

He was so happy that he didn't noticed Kisuke crying anime-tears as he got out the money in his pocket, "_Why Yoruiccchhhiiii!_" he roared inside his head.

After Taka agreed to show them where Naruto lived, the Shinigami and ex-shinobi bid them fare well. As they watched the two leave Gin asked, "Hey Rangiku, do you like Naruto-niichan?" he asked with a sly grin as his friend's face suddenly blushed bright red.

"N-N-NO I don't, I just met him," Rangiku screamed at him, but only got another sly grin from Gin and Taka in return, "I don't have a crush on him!" and she proceeded to chase after a fleeing Gin why Taka just laughed .

* * *

"This, Naruto-kun, is the Seireitei!" Kisuke said happily as they arrived, slightly worn out from the little race they had between Kisuke's Shunpo and Naruto's Shunshin to see who was the fastest. He watched with clear amusement at Naruto's face as his jaw dropped and his eyes widen to the point that they looked ready to pop out of their sockets as he stared at the humungous white gate in front of them.

"Any thoughts so far?" Kisuke asked, grinning as he ushered the blonde past the gate, which closed as soon as the three were past it.

"It's…uh, very big…" Naruto said as they continued to walk through the streets. He took in the sights with excitement as they walked, while secretly memorizing everything to the smallest detail. He may be dead but he was former shinobi and he wasn't going to take anything likely.

He saw, with great detest, that there were some very expensive looking estates, and if his memory served as a reminder, they were the homes of the nobility just like back in the world of the living. Naruto remembered how he was forced to meet the nobles of the Fire Country, as well as those from the other countries, after he became Hokage, and only one thing came to his mind when it came to dealing with them, and that these pricks are so getting their asses kicked one day.

"_So even the Soul Society has nobles, eh? Great…_" Naruto thought as he continued to glare at the estates with great loathing, but was pulled out of his thoughts by Kisuke.

"Naruto-kun," Kisuke said, waving his hand in front of the ex-shinobi, "I was asking if I could have a look at your katana?" he asked.

"Um…sure…" Naruto said as he gave his wrapped up blade to the fellow blonde and received the bag of ramen.

Kisuke unsheathed the sword and studied it with great interest as the rounded a corner and entered a familiar area to the older blonde. He observed every little detail about the blade, testing its sharpness on small rock and found out that with barely a touch the rock was split cleanly in half, as well as noticing how the nine jewels on the blade's guard seem to flicker a lively crimson when Naruto held it, and last but most noticeable was how it gave off a small reiatsu signature.

"_I thought so,_ _it's a Zanpakuto but how did Naruto come into the possession of this sword?_" Kisuke thought to himself as he sheathed the sword, rewrapped it, and handed it back to Naruto, "It's a fine blade, where did you get it?" he asked,

"I found it in the forest after you sent me here, it was leaning on the tree I was sleeping on," Naruto explained, "I doubt somebody would have just left it next to me and since nobody was around I decided to keep it."

"That's...unusual..." Kisuke said, thinking over the scenario that Naruto had just told him, and found it suspicious. There was always the possibility that the boy was lying to him, but from the confused look on his face as he told the story and from what he had already knew about him, it seemed highly unlikely. That still left one problem, why was there a Zanpakuto just lying about in a forest? He would have to look into it later.

They had come to a long wall made of white stone that was about four meters high or more. Naruto found it difficult for him to get a look at the interior of the compound, but he could guess there were a lot of large, beautifully built structures within.

As they continued walking, Naruto saw that ahead of them was a very big set of heavy double doors with a symbol carved into the brown doors. The center of the symbol was a crescent moon pointed upwards, incased within a diamond that had long lines stretching from the tips of the diamond. Surrounding it were two large rectangles that overlapped one another with four five pointed stars on the outer lines, and it was all in a hexagon.

"That's the Shihoin family's crest." Kisuke explained as they walked towards the doors, noticing Naruto studying the crest.

"Shihoin, eh? Sounds like they're an important family." Naruto said, still staring at the crest while thinking, "_I wonder what the family is like, hopefully they don't have that 'Superior than thou' bullshit that I know a lot of nobles have..._" he said in his mind as an image of a few certain Uchihas popped into his mind.

"The Shihoin family is one of the four main noble families within the Soul Society." Kisuke explained.

As they continued walking Naruto saw the great doors opening a bit. At first Naruto was hesitant about going further, but his caution disappeared as he saw his Shinigami companion walked on through the opening. He followed shortly, still taking in every bit of information he could about this place. He looked around, studying the compound as he heard the doors behind him creek shut.

The main house itself was maybe half a dozen stories tall and was built and designed as an ancient Japanese-style palace. It seemed like it was made from maybe four or five houses put together with walkways connecting them to each other, and it seemed to be circled around a very large courtyard in the center of them.

Naruto whistled in amazement at the size and spectacle of the building, he had only seen a few structures like it when he was alive and none at all while he had been in the Soul Society.

His fellow blonde stay silent, only sharing a smile with them as he pushed aside a pair of sliding doors, "Welcome Naruto-kun, to the house of the Shihoin family," Urahara said as he walked through the doors, turning his head back to the ex-shinobi, "Come on Naruto-kun, _she_ awaits you." he said with his smile still on his face as his fellow blonde followed him through the sliding door.

* * *

Naruto was given a better look of the area that surrounded the building as they walked down one of the walkways. It was covered with courtyards, with each one being able to at least hold a group of two or about twenty or so men. As their destination neared, he noticed men standing at attention and were wearing black outfits, the tops of their heads being covered with a black bandana tied over them as well as having a black cloth cover their mouths.

Naruto looked at them for a moment, before stifling a laugh, they couldn't have been ninjas, "_What's up with the wannabes?_" Naruto thought, smirking as he continued to look at the men in black, while also taking note of Urahara giving one of them the bag of ramen.

Finally Kisuke stopped in front of another pair of sliding doors, turned to Naruto and said, "She isn't expecting anyone right now, so please wait out here for a moment." he opened the doors and disappeared from the his guest's sight as he shut the doors. Naruto just stood there, waiting with the stillness that one could only obtain through training to become a sage.

Several moments past by before the door suddenly opened up, and Naruto let a small smile grace his lips as he entered the room. When he was in the room, Naruto began studying it. It was a simple room with only a short legged table, which Urahara was sitting by with a cup of tea in his hands, and a chair that had no legs, was green and had purple armrests, but it wasn't the chair that caught his attention, it was the person sitting in it that grabbed it and only one thing came to his mind in that instant.

"_She's...she's beautiful..._" he thought as he stared at the beautiful young woman before him with mystified eyes. She had short purple hair with golden, cat like eyes which stared back at him with equal curiosity. Her skin was dark and toned, and she seemed to radiate an aura that was exactly like his, a mischievous prankster's, which only made her more appealing to him. She wore a black outfit that was similar to the ones the guards outside wore, but it was instead sleeveless, and for that matter backless too, and she had black wrist warmers, as well as a large white sash tied around her waist and a black ribbon tied to her neck.

The woman leaned forward, still observing him and let out a small laugh, "So this is the person you met that had the strange abilities Kisuke?" she asked her old friend, grinning like a cat.

Kisuke just remained seated near the table, taking a drink from his cup before answering her with a nod and a smile. He then turned to Naruto and gave him a 'I'm-sorry-for-what's-about-to-happen' look, which didn't really help his fellow blonde at all as the woman stood up and walked over to Naruto. She stopped only a few feet away from him, leaned forward, her golden eyes meeting with his blue. They just stood where they were for a few moments, just staring into each other's eyes, which surprised Kisuke, he had never seen Yoruichi act like this before.

"He doesn't look that special to me," she said, flashing a mischievous grin, "He's cute though...and he's got beautiful eyes." she said with her grin turning into a sweet smile that caused Naruto's heart to skip a beat and caused Kisuke to spew out the tea that he had just drank.

Naruto's face began to blush at her comment, it would have gotten redder if he hadn't been able to control it, but he still averted his eyes from hers. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, they ended up looking down, noticing that her outfit was very skin tight, and in the position she was in right now gave Naruto a clear view of her well-endowed chest.

"_She got a nice set of bre-gah,_ _Dammit Pervy Sage what have you done to me!_" Naruto thought as he looked away from her body, cursing his perverted sensei while hoping that his face wasn't getting any redder.

"Come with me." the woman suddenly ordered, grabbing a surprised Naruto by his hand and dragged him out of the room with hardly any effort, much to the blonde's shock. She took a turn and walked towards the nearest courtyard, one that had a small pond in the middle of it with fish swimming in it.

With surprising strength the woman tossed Naruto into the air and into the courtyard. He would have landed into the pond head first, but he did two front flips and landed feet first into the pond and stood on the water.

"That wasn't very nice." he said with a smirk as he saw the woman's face flash a quick look of shock before grinning madly at him, while Kisuke's eyes widen and causing the ninja-wannabes that had followed them jaws to drop.

"Hey boy," the woman called, catching Naruto's attention, "I want you to fight me."

"You want me to fight you," Naruto asked, the woman nodding her head in response, "Why?"

"Kisuke told me you have some interesting abilities and from what I'm seeing right now," she said, pointing to him standing on the water, "It seems he was right. I'd like to see more of them."

"I see, you know you could've just asked me too..." Naruto said as he stepped out of the pond while the purple haired Shinigami scratched her head sheepishly, took out his katana and embedded it into the ground, "Okay I'll fight you."

In response, the woman grinned and vanished in an instant. Naruto felt a small burst of wind on his right and acted on pure instinct, raising his arm to block the incoming attack. A kick came from his right side and was headed straight for his head, Naruto blocked it, but the kick had such a force to it that he was sent skidding several meters, but he still stood.

The woman was wear he was standing, her leg still raised, "Excellent reflexes." she said, smiling.

Naruto just shrugged off the kick and cracked his neck, "That's quite a kick you've got there, but compared to my grandma's it feels like a tickle." he taunted as he gave her his trademark fox-grin, causing the woman's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance at the comment.

"Is that so?" she asked, her smile turning into a frown.

Naruto just grinned as he ran at her with a speed that turned him into a blur. He was in front of her one moment, then behind her the next with his fist raised. She blocked the fist and aimed a palm strike to his chest. In response, Naruto raised his other hand to lift her strike and ducked so that it went sailing over his head. He quickly turned and brought his right leg back, enhanced with his chakra, performing a split kick with one foot on the ground and one in the air, slamming his foot into her stomach.

Luckily for her, she had brought both of her arms back in time to block it, but she was still sent into the air from the kick. Acting quickly, Naruto jump into the air, passing her and aimed an axe kick to her back. But before it reached her, she disappeared and appeared behind him, both arms raised and held together and slammed into him. Naruto was sent hurtling to the ground and created a small crater as he hit the courtyard, sending up a cloud of dust as he did so.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" came Naruto's voice, him still being completely covered by the smoke.

Immediately four Narutos jumped out of the smoke, with a small amount of blood running down their head, and soared towards the woman. She grabbed onto the first clone's punch with of her arms and delivered a swift kick to his face, causing it to instantly disappear. Two of the remaining clones quickly grabbed both of her arms, each placing one of their feet on her back while Naruto positioned both of his feet at her back and with a burst of chakra, pushed off of her, sending her speeding towards the ground with the clones in hot pursuit.

The woman reacted quickly did a partial front flip and landed on her hands with unbelievable grace, while the Narutos landed on the ground and charged her. That was when she struck, she split her legs and spun with two of the Narutos getting caught and exploded into smoke, while the remaining one blocked the kick at the last second. He skidded towards the crater, barely managing to stop before he fell into the hole, however the woman was right on him and gave him a swift knee attack to his neck.

She smiled at what seemed to be a victory, a pity it was over so soon, she was really enjoying her fight with the blonde. The falling blonde suddenly vanished in a burst of smoke, shocking her greatly and she immediately began searching everywhere in the surrounding area, but there was no sign of the young man. She then heard a cracking sound from underneath her and she looked down, but it was too late.

Naruto burst out of the ground, delivering an uppercut to her jaw, sending her to the ground. Naruto stood over her as she spit out a bit of blood, and offered her a hand up. She took it reluctantly and smiled at him as he lifted her up with ease and walked backwards, putting some distance between them, while getting nearer towards the pond.

"That was a good strategy, hiding in the ground while your clones fought me, waiting for a chance to attack me." she said playfully as she wiped the small trickle of blood from her mouth.

"Thanks, I was known back in my village for being unpredictable in a fight," Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his head, "By the way I never got your name, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"...It's Shihoin Yoruichi." she answered.

"That's not all," came Kisuke's cheery voice. Naruto turned his head to see his fellow blonde at the edge of the courtyard with the group of the ninja look-alikes who were watching the battle with impressed looks on their faces, "She's the 22nd head of the Shihoin family, commander of the Onmitsukidō and the Captain of the 2nd Shinigami Division." he said.

"And that means she's what exactly?" Naruto asked dumbly, causing everyone except Kisuke and Yoruichi to face-fault.

"He means that out of all of the Shinigami," Yoruichi explained with a grin, "That I'm one of the strongest."

"Wow Yoruichi-chan, I'm impressed." Naruto said as he gave her his trademark fox-grin, not noticing the very faint blush that had appeared on Yoruichi's cheeks because of the 'chan' added to her name.

Shaking her head, Yoruichi entered a stance, "Enough talk, we're not done fighting yet!" she said and vanished once again.

"_Gotta act fast..._" Naruto thought as he made the hand signs, "_Suiton: Suijinheki!_" he roared as the pond behind him began to stir and rose up into a spiraling wall of water that caught Yoruichi and dragged her into it, slightly damaging her as the water smashed into her.

Naruto silently thanked Killer Bee for helping him unlock his second element while they were on the island and he thanked the Mizukage for teaching him how to use different tactics with them. Suddenly he felt his control slip, as well as feeling a little out of breath from performing the jutsu which felt weird to him, normally he wouldn't have even been winded after using just these jutsus. He saw with shock that the jutsu suddenly stopped and the water came down.

"_Why! Why'd it just stop?_" he thought as he watched Yoruichi land onto the ground. She was completely soaked and so was her outfit, which clung to her more tightly because of it, giving Naruto another look at her gorgeous body which caused his face to blush slightly.

"That was a good defensive Kido," she said with a sly grin, holding out her right arm with her hand shaped like a claw, "But it hardly had any bite to it."

"Kido?" Naruto repeated the word, confused.

Yoruichi's grin grew wider as a ball of red light appeared in her hand, pointing it at Naruto she said, "_Hado 31: Shakkaho!_" the ball of red light shot out of her hand with at a blazing speed and flew towards Naruto.

Naruto reacted quickly and made a flurry of hands signs, "_Fuuton: Nentenkaze Shoukeki!_" he yelled as he drew his hands and spun around, creating a small whirling orb around him. But he felt it again, he felt his concentration slip and was feeling tired from using the jutsu. He shouldn't have burned up that much chakra so why was he feeling this way. He concentrated more chakra into the jutsu, but it was too late.

The barrier had dropped in those few seconds, making a small hole appear in it and the red ball flew into it, causing it and the barrier to explode. Naruto was blasted out of the barrier with some minor burns on him and quickly began making hand signs and shot a _Fuuton: Shinku Taigyoku _at her and went into another series of hands.

"_Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!_" the pond in the middle of the courtyard exploded skyward. The rising water began to take shape, forming a neck with jaw on the end, with a pair of red eyes appearing at the top as well as a pair of horns on its head, giving it the appearance of a dragon.

"Wow that's so cool!," Yoruichi said enthusiastically as she jumped over the ball of wind that created a crater in the ground, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at the twin dragons in awe, while everyone else on the sidelines were watching in amazement.

Naruto on the other hand, was not so excited about it. It was taking way too much concentration to keep the jutsu going and he was burning up too much chakra for his liking. It was the same thing as with his water wall and wind barrier before it, but this one was much worse, it was consuming too much chakra and he needed to attack now before he exhausted his chakra.

Using his hands, Naruto directed the dragon to attack. It circled around her, covering the escape routes with its body and attack her from above. Its jaw opened wide, the dragon struck instantly and slammed into the ground, creating a massive explosion of water and soaking everyone in the area.

Breathing heavily, Naruto's eyes raced across the courtyard trying to find the female Shinigami while thinking, "_What's going on, what's wrong with my chakra? Don't tell me that I've drained too much of what's left of Kyubi's chakra that it can't help me sustained my justu for too long now,_" he wondered as he continued to look around, "I know I didn't hit her, so where is she now?" he muttered.

"Good observation." came a playful voice from behind.

Naruto turned around, only to receive a palm strike from his opponent with some strength behind it, sending him across the courtyard in a matter of seconds. Naruto rolled backwards and stood up shakily while spitting out a glob of blood.

"_Bakudo 61: Rikujojoro!_" Yoruichi's voice rang out. Six thin beams of yellow light slammed into his midsection, forcing him onto a knee and stopping him from counter attacking her. He cursed slightly as he tried moving but found that he couldn't move any part of his body.

"Tell me Yoruichi-chan, how'd you escape?" Naruto asked as he struggled to try to get free from his prison.

"Well it's a simple little move called Shunpo that allows me to transport myself from one place to another with ease," she explained, before grinning at him, "In the Soul Society, I'm called the Shunshin so I'm the best there is when it comes to shunpo."

"So that's how you were able to escape my jutsu." Naruto said, smiling slightly.

Yoruichi walked over to his kneeling form and bent down, staring him in the eyes, "Your good Naruto, you've definitely got some power and skill in you," She said with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown as her expression turned serious, "I'm sorry to say this to you, but soon all your jutsus are going to be useless."

"How'd you figure that out?" Naruto asked, guessing what she was going to say and was going to confirm what he already knew.

"I studied nearly everything there is on the ways of ninja in the world of the living," she explained with a sigh, "I know how you're able to use your jutsus. It's through chakra, which is the energy of the body. When you died it should have been converted into reiryoku, which is the energy of the soul. This happens to everyone that enters the Soul Society, but for some reason when you died your energy didn't convert, at least not right away it didn't."

"...I knew it, I shouldn't have squandered what chakra I had left..." Naruto said sadly.

Yoruichi gave him a worried look, wondering how he was taking the news. To her surprise the air seemed to get more tense as a blue aura of energy wrapped around Naruto, said former Hokage's body began vibrating against the six beams that binded him, it was obvious that he was attempting to break free of his prison and Yoruichi watched as slowly the blue energy and the blonde's body turned yellow.

"Stop that you fool, you could get seriously injured if you-" what Yoruichi was saying was drown out as Naruto let out a roar and the energy around him intensified greatly, the six beams started breaking from the pressure, and with one more yell Naruto broke the beams, removing them from his body in pieces.

Everyone in the field watched in awe at Naruto's changed form, with his entire body turning yellow with his eyes turning orange and his whole form released energy in a flicker of flames. His hairstyle had changed to where he now had two horns sticking out and his body had changed even more than that, as it now had black markings in the forms of six magatamas and lines that traced all around his body and at the three swirls on his shoulders and his stomach.

"This power is the only memento that I have left of my partner and if I'm going to lose it, then it's going to be the way we'd both would've wanted it to," Naruto said, grinning wildly as he took an offensive stance with one of his arms stretched out with an open hand, "C'mon Yoruichi-chan, we've got a fight to finish!"

Yoruichi just looked at the young man before her in shocked silence. She had not expected this to happen but she knew that if the same thing happened to her, she would choose to do the same as well.

Shaking her head slightly, she smiled at the former shinobi, "That's true, so let's finish this!" she said, and they dashed towards each other.

They clashed with one another in a series of combo attacks to their mid-section and heads. As they continued it was becoming more and more difficult to tell who was dominating the fight, because while Yoruichi was landing more blows than Naruto was, but the blonde didn't even seem to flinch when the attacks hit him and just shrugged them off and kept hitting her with stronger attacks.

Yoruichi struck him with a kick, intending to end it with one more hit to the blonde, but Naruto grabbed her leg, lifted himself up with his arm and swung his leg towards her head. She used shunpo when the kick was a few inches from her head and appeared behind him with her fist drawn back. She received a surprise as Naruto suddenly disappeared in a yellow flash and appeared at her side with his elbow jammed into her hip. Yoruichi used shunpo again, trying to distance herself while her mind raced to figure out what the blonde had just done.

"You should now," came Naruto's voice as he appeared in front of her, "You're not the only one that has a nickname with 'flash' in it." He teased her as they both disappeared. Sparks could be seen as the two invisible combatants clashed with one another as they each used their own respective technique, "My father was known as the Yellow Flash when he was alive because he created the Hiraishin no jutsu, and later on I obtained the Hiraishin's scroll," Naruto explained as they reappeared at the ends of the courtyard, "But when I gained this form, my Shunshin no jutsu was so fast that everyone started calling me the second Yellow Flash."

"Well it's not a bad technique, it's on the same level as my Shunpo." Yoruichi said, smiling.

"No, I'm actually a lot faster than this," Naruto replied simply, then disappeared behind Yoruichi and delivered a kick to the back of her head and sent her flying. Before she even had a chance to recover, Naruto sent her into a barrage of attacks, stopping her cold, "While I could've used the Hiraishin to end this quickly, this form is not exactly stable enough to use it," he explained as he saw the realization on the purple haired beauty's face, "That's right Yoruichi-chan, I've had a ace up my sleeve the whole fight, and it's a lot faster than either of us."

"_Amazing, he's overpowering a taicho in that form, he must have been a strong ninja when he was alive._" Kisuke thought as he stared at his fellow blonde, astounded by the development as he watched Naruto sent Yoruichi flying but didn't follow after her.

"_It's time to end this!_" Naruto thought as he turned back into his normal form and created two clones. He held his hand out and the two clones began forming his most powerful jutsu, and he was putting every last bit of chakra he had left in it, and everyone watched in utter shock as they saw a spinning blue orb gaining the form of a giant shuriken.

"_Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!_" Naruto said, grinning as he lifted up his jutsu, getting ready to use the last bit of his chakra to throw it for one final attack on the beautiful Shinigami. Yoruichi just smirked in return as she entered an offensive stance and charged at him in a blazing speed, that was when Naruto felt it. His arm felt a searing pain as if it was on fire, and as if it was going to be ripped off if he kept the rasenshuriken in his hand.

"_It's going to explode,_" Naruto thought as he looked at the jutsu, realizing what would happen if he didn't let it go soon, he turned his gaze to Yoruichi who was only a few feet from him, her face showing that she knew something was wrong, "_She doesn't know what's going to happen!_" he had to move quickly.

"MOVE IT!" Naruto yelled as he let go of the rasenshuriken and grabbed Yoruichi, shielding her from what would happen in a few seconds. The rasenshuriken exploded, sending the two backwards as the shuriken turned into a gigantic spinning ball. The two hit the ground hard and rolled for a few feet, coming to a stop with Naruto on top of Yoruichi, their faces only a few feet from each others.

Naruto didn't need to look back to know what had happened, he had taken the blow for Yoruichi which caused his back to become badly injured and bleeding everywhere, and not to mention it caused him a great deal of pain.

"You alright Yoruichi-chan?" Naruto asked, panting heavily as he felt himself lose consciousness.

"I'm fine..." Yoruichi replied, her face showing a worried look as she watched him.

"That's..'huff'...that's a relief..." Naruto managed to say, giving one last grin to the Shinigami as his vision turned black and his body fell down onto hers as he passed out, never noticing the blush on Yoruichi's face as his lips crashed into hers.

* * *

**Well I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, I really think I did an okay job with the fighty, since I figured that the part of Kyubi's chakra that he had closed off would still be with him if he died, it could be used to fuel his jutsu until it ran out and I wanted him to lose it the way Naruto would've wanted it, through a fight.**

**Now as for Naruto using the water element and having the hiraishin, I'm just going with what I've told everyone in my other story, that he needed a newer power, and the water element just seemed to be the only thing to fit. Now, since you all have probably already know all the jutsu and kido except for one, here it is.**

_Fuuton: Netenkaze shoukeki (Wind Release: Twisting wind barrier)- basically it is a twisting barrier of wind that will absorb an enemy's attack and send it back twice as fast and as powerful._

**Well see ya next time!**


	4. An Opportunity

**Hey Everybody, I'm back in business! I know it has been a LONG while, but I decided on buckling down this semeaster to finish up my senior year and I just finshed finals this week, then had the cerimony and what not on Saturday, so I've not had time to finish any of my stories' newest chapters until now, but right now I'M FREE!**

**Okay, enough with me gloating, onto the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: An Opportunity**

_He felt searing pain go through him for what seemed like an eternity, as if his skin was being torn of bit by bit with a burning kunai. He looked within his mind and saw something in that dark, damp sewer where his Biju resides that sent a bone-chilling sensation up his spine. He saw Kyubi being extracted from the seal, the gigantic fox was fighting tooth and nail to stay in the seal, he'd be damned if that Uchiha took control over him again._

_"__**Dammit all, how could this happen,**__" He roared, turning his red eyes to his jinchuriki, "__**Naruto help me, before Madara extracts me!**__"_

_Naruto rushed over to the cage as fast as his feet could carry him and activated the key, attempting to tighten the seal or anything he could think of to prolong the extraction, but it was too late. He watched helplessly as Kyubi suddenly vanished from the cage, and he instantly felt weaker than he had ever felt before. He left the cage and opened his eyes to see if his worse fear was true, it was._

_Madara Uchiha had won, he had extracted both Hachibi and Kyubi from him and Killer Bee and with all nine Bijus together he could finally resurrect the Jubi and there was nobody to stop him._

_"The Uzumaki clan really is amazing, for you to still be alive after your Biju is extracted is astounding," Madara said as he towered over his fallen form, "But like your parents before you, you've failed to stop me and now my goal is finally complete, the Jubi will be revived!" he let out a menacing laughter as the silhouette of a giant cyclopetic monster with what looked like a combination of the rinnegan and the sharingan, it's ten tails standing still._

_"D-Damn you Madara!" Naruto weakly said, too drained from the extraction to stand up._

_"Now Naruto," Madara said with an evil chuckle, "Do me a favor and die!" with that the newly resurrected Jubi raised its claw and attacked him._

Naruto shot up from the bed he was laying in, breathing heavily as he sweat drenched the clothes he was wearing. After a few minutes of deep breaths, he calmed down and looked at his surroundings, noticing he was in a hospital room and the only things within the white wall were his bed and an open window at that was a few feet from his bed. He took another deep breath, thinking about his nightmare and what was his worst fear when he was alive during the war.

"_I haven't had that dream ever since I died, so why would it reappear if I don't have Kyubi inside me anymore?_" he thought, suddenly feeling a little sad as he looked down at his stomach were his seal was. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he and Kyubi had become friends after he had gained control over his chakra, sure it had taken a while but they had eventually began to trust each other even if they still bickered at one another from time to time, and now the last thing that held the connection between them was gone.

"You're really gone, aren't you Kyubi," he muttered sadly as he laid back down on the bed, his hands on the back of his head and just stared at the ceiling while thinking about what his biju had last said to him, "When you've found them and are in search of more power, come find me. Only then will the two halves become one again. What exactly were you telling me Kyubi?" he muttered to himself as he got up from the bed and noticed something he hadn't before. He saw that both of his arms were bandaged up, as well as parts of his legs and he felt two bandages on his face, but when he took off his shirt he saw that his back was the most bandaged because of him protecting Yoruichi from his rasenshuriken.

He tenderly placed his hands on all of his wrapped up injuries, checking to make sure if they hurt or were sore and found that everything but his back felt completely fine to him so he stated to unravel the bandages. He was halfway through taking off his bandage on his right leg when he heard the faint sounds of footsteps and turned his attention to the door to see it open to reveal a young woman wearing a pink nurse's uniform with a miniskirt and was carrying a clipboard.

She suddenly stopped as she saw him, not expecting the heavily injured boy that was brought in by the insane Captain of 2nd division and her 3rd seat to be sitting up in his bed and taking of his bandages.

"Uh...hi..." Naruto said nervously with a quick wave of his hand.

She didn't say anything and basically ran out of the room, leaving a confused Naruto trying to figure out what he did before he simply shrugged and went back to taking off the bandages on his leg. Barely five minutes had past when another person enter the room, but this person wasn't the nurse he had just seen. It was a woman who was wearing a Shinigami uniform but she was wearing an obi in place of the sash, also her sword wasn't on her person, and she was wearing a white haori with long baggy sleeves. She was beautiful with a kind smile, soft blue eyes and long black hair that was tied at her front by a single long, white braid, and she also had a clipboard in her hands.

"Good morning," she said kindly as she walked up to the bed, "It's good to see you've awakened."

"How's Yoruichi-chan?" Naruto asked as he swung his legs off of the bed, only to have her place firm but gently hand on him.

"Yoruichi-taicho is fine, compared to you she only had a few scrapes, and you shouldn't be moving too much after the beating you took," the woman said, then looked at his discarded bandages with a disapproving look, "Moreover, you shouldn't take off your bandages before your wounds have healed."

"I've always been a fast healer, so I'll be fine," Naruto said, chuckling a bit before turning his attention back to her, "Who are you anyway miss?" he asked.

She chuckled slightly at his question, "I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I am Unohana Retsu, Captain of 4th division," she said then held out her hand, "And I'll be the one to decide whether you're fully healed or not." Naruto raised his arm and she took it in her hands, checking where it was injured. Naruto shivered a bit at her soft touch as her hands slowly moved across his arm, then felt her hands let go and moved to the other arm.

"How long have I been out Retsu-san," Naruto asked, causing her to pause for a moment, "Something wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just haven't been called that in a long time," she said chuckling, "Now could you please stand up Uzumaki-san?" she asked.

"Um...sure but how do you know my name, I haven't told you it yet?" he asked as he stood up.

"Yoruichi-taicho told me it when she brought you here," Retsu told him as she walked behind him, "Please take off your shirt so I can see your back Uzumaki-san." she ordered.

"Okay but could you just call me Naruto, Retsu-san," he asked as he took his shirt off, "It feels wrong being called my last name and I feel old being called san." he told her as he winced slightly as he felt her hand touch his back.

"That's fine Naruto-kun, now stand still while I take off your bandages." she ordered, then slowly started to unravel his bandages and letting them fall to the floor. Once she was done, Unohana stared in amazement at what she saw, sure his arms and legs were one thing since they were only bruises but his back was another story entirely. Where there still should've been basically a destroyed back was a completely healed back, with some areas having a little red and black bruising on them, she was so focused on Naruto's back that she almost missed what he said.

"Hey Retsu-san how long was I out?" he asked, turning his head so he could look at the Shinigami.

"You've been unconscious for two days Naruto-kun," she told him, "With your injuries you should have been out for a week, but this is amazing, how did you heal so fast?" she asked as she gently touch his back.

"I have a healing ability that allows me to recover from my wounds faster than a normal human, I can heal cuts and bruises in seconds and for more serious injuries it could be from over night to a whole day," Naruto explained while inwardly thinking, "_At least I still have something left from you Kyubi..._" at that thought a small smile graced his lips.

"So this wound is more serious than what your healing ability can normally fix?" Retsu inquired as she continued studying his injured back.

"Yeah, some of my jutsu can be pretty relentless." Naruto said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

"Jutsu...oh chakra, the energy of the body." Retsu said casually, causing Naruto to stop scratching his head and turn around quickly, a little too quickly.

"You know about cha-woah!" he didn't finish his sentence because when he turned around he slipped on his discarded bandages and fell on top of the Shinigami Captain and they both landed on the bed with Naruto on top of Unohana, their faces so close that their lips were barely touching and their blue eyes were staring into each other's. Naruto could see her cheeks starting to flush a bit and he felt himself heating up as well, but there was something else that felt weird to him. His right hand felt something incredibly soft and so he decided to give it an experimental squeeze followed by Unohana to let out a loud moan, which caused Naruto to realize that he had grabbed onto her well endowed chest and immediately backed away, his hands held up defensively.

"I'm sorry! If you're going to beat me Retsu-san, please keep it above the belt!" he yelled as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth for the beating that was sure to come, however after a few moments with nothing happening Naruto opened one of his eyes and looked at the Shinigami that was sitting up from the bed and looking at him with her face sporting a full blown blush.

"N-No Naruto-kun, I should be the one to apologize," She said as she felt her heart pounding against her chest, "If I hadn't placed your bandages on the floor, you wouldn't have tripped and we could have avoided this."

"So...does that mean you're not gonna beat me senseless?" Naruto asked, his head cocked to the side as he sweat dropped.

"...No...why would you think that?" she asked, her eyebrow raised as her blush started to get under control.

"Ummm...normally when a situation like this happens, me or Pervy Sage are usually beaten to a bloody pulp, hehehe." Naruto said, chuckling nervously as he scratched the back of his head and gave Unohana his trademark fox-grin.

"...Well that explains your reaction." she said with a small giggle while Naruto continued to scratch his head, then the 4th division Captain stood up and made for the door, "If you'll excuse me for moment Naruto-kun, I'll let your visitors come see you and I will bring your belongings as well." she told him, then quickly left the room, with a confused Naruto just looking at the door.

"Thank god she wasn't mad at me..." Naruto muttered as he let out a shaky breath, feeling as though he had just narrowly avoided death.

A few minutes past in silence before he heard the sound of multiple footsteps approaching his room, and they came in the form of Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Retsu entering the room with the Captain of the 4th division carrying his clothes, weapon pouch, and sword.

"Still alive Naruto-kun?" Kisuke asked with a small chuckle which only earned a scoff from the blonde.

"What you think I'd die from that," Naruto said his eyebrow raised as he gave the Shinigami a light glare, "I've had worse than that while I was alive and I lived through it! I'm not gonna die that easily." he told him as he huffed in annoyance.

"Understood Naruto-kun." Kisuke replied, still chuckling.

"How you holdin' up Yoruichi-chan?" Naruto asked as he turned his attention to his former opponent, noticing that she had bandages on her body from where he had injured her, thankfully none of them looked serious.

"I fine, compared to your injuries mine are nothing to complain about..." Yoruichi replied, adverting her eyes as she thought about how he had accidentally kissed her after he lost consciousness, trying and failing to keep her blush from showing, not noticing her 3rd seat seeing the whole thing and was struggling to not laugh at the scene as he remembered how Yoruichi just laid on the ground with the blonde kissing her for a few silent seconds before throwing him off of her and was about to proceed in kicking his unconcious ass until Kisuke moved between them and reasoned with her, luckily she agreed not to punch his face in.

"Hey Retsu-san can I see my things," he asked curiously, remembering he had one last thing to do. Unohana complied and returned his belongings while just smiling at the confused looks of the 2nd division's Captain and 3rd seat when the former Hokage called her 'Retsu-san', and needless to say, they were impressed by the risks the blonde was taking. They all returned their attention to the blonde that was on the floor and studying his repaired kimono, "Hey Retsu-san, could you tell whoever repaired my kimono thank you for me?"

"Yes, I'm sure Isane would appreciate it." Unohana said, nodding her head slightly while thinking that Isane would be overjoyed about someone thanking her for her work, it probably would help her low self esteem a bit.

"Thanks, now I need to take care of one last thing," Naruto murmured as he opened his weapon pouch and took out the single scroll that was in it and unraveled it to the first seal that was on it. He closed his eyes and entered the part of his mind where he usually shelved Kyubi's chakra, and in there he found a small little orb of chakra, twice as small as his rasengan, and he gathered it in his hands and began channeling it through his body.

Everyone gathered around as they watch with curiosity as Naruto's hand began to glow blue and he moved it to the seal that was on the scroll. A puff a smoke appeared as five books appeared in front of him and the glow suddenly vanished, leaving Naruto out of breath and sweat trailing down his forehead.

Naruto looked at his right hand as he closed his eyes again, trying to feel if any of his or Kyubi's chakra remained but there wasn't anything left, he couldn't feel even an ounce of chakra in himself anymore, "I don't have chakra anymore..." he muttered sadly as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"To be honest Naruto, it should have been gone from the moment you entered the Soul Society, but something extremely powerful must have been bound to you that allowed you to keep your powers for this long." Yoruichi explained, then looked at him curiously, and then she remembered something he had previously said, "Wait, you said that your power was the only thing you had left of your partner, what do you mean by that?" she inquired.

Naruto allowed himself a sad smile as Kyubi flashed through his mind again, "What I mean is that the chakra he left me was the reason why I was still able to use mine."

Both Captains and the 3rd seat look at one another, confused then turned back to Naruto, "Who was he?" they asked simultaneously.

"...Kyubi..." Naruto simply told them before turning his head to them, "Have any of you ever heard of the Biju?" he asked.

Yoruichi and Kisuke shook their heads, confused at the sudden change in subject, but Unohana nodded, "The nine Biju, the tailed beasts," She said, before going into an explanation for her fellow Captain and her 3rd seat, "They are said to be the strongest demons that reside within the living world, and are basically just creatures with such giant chakra reserves that even the Ichibi's, the one-tailed's, power is said to be enough to be an even match with a Captain."

"Woah..." was all Yoruichi could say, while Kisuke's inner scientist came out and was thinking of ways to study these beasts.

"However, they were all defeated and sealed within normal humans so they could be used as weapons, these humans were called..." Unohana stopped herself as she tried to remember the term that the hosts were called, thankfully Naruto stepped in to help.

"They were called the Jinchuriki," Naruto told them with Unohana nodding in agreement, "And I was one of them."

"You were?" Yoruichi asked.

"I was the third Jinchuriki of my partner, the Kyubi no Yoko, the strongest of the nine Biju." Naruto explained as he unconsciously put his hand on where the seal was placed on him.

Retsu nodded her head in understanding, "That would explain why you're powers remained with you after your death, a Biju's power would theoretically be enough to allow it's Jinchuriki's powers to remain, even if it's only for a short while," her face then gained a sad look as she thought about what he must have endured in his life, "You must have had a hard life..." she said as she placed her caring hand on his shoulder.

"Huh, why is that Unohana-taicho?" Kisuke inquired as he looked at his fellow blonde.

"The Jinchuriki are said to have lived sad and lonely lives because they were feared and hated by the very demons they were sacrificed to contain," Unohana sadly explained, "Even though they were created to protect their villages, they were treated like outcasts by them. I'm surprised that someone as young as you, Naruto-kun, weren't driven into insanity when any man should have been." she calmly stated.

Yoruichi just stared at the blonde boy in front her, waiting to see his reaction to the news, and was caught by surprise when he suddenly broke out in his trademark fox-grin and winked at them.

"I didn't give in, that's all," he stated simple as put his hands behind his head, "When I first found out about it, I was angry at first, but later on when I got older I began taking pride in the fact that I was one," he said as his eyes grew sad, and the Shinigami could tell that the former Hokage was sad about something, "But now I'm free and powerless, not exactly a good trade-off, eh?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Naruto," Yoruichi suddenly chimed in, gaining the two Shinigamis' and the former shinobi's attention again, "Remember when I said that your chakra should've been converted into reiryoku? Well maybe it is now, so go ahead and give it a try, your training should be enough to help you gather the energy." she urged him.

Naruto merely gave her a curious look before attempting to do what to do as she asked, he looked at his hand and began concentrated whatever sort of energy was in his body to his hand like he would do for a rasengan, and slowly, a large blue ball that was the size of an Ōdama rasengan appeared in his palm, with an amazing amount of pressure following right after it.

"T-This is astounding," Kisuke stuttered as he continued to look at the glowing orb, "Your reiatsu is that of a seated officers and you're not even going all out!" he muttered in as he looked at his fellow blonde with excitement in his eyes.

"What's reiatsu?" Naruto asked as he looked at the two Captains with an eyebrow raised, hoping they could provide an answer for him.

"Reiatsu is spiritual pressure," Unohana explained to him, "It is the physical form that your reiryoku takes when you exert it, and it can be used for multiple purposes when you have learned to control it."

"S-So I still protect have the power to protect what's precious to me," Naruto managed to say as he released the energy, causing the orb to disappear as he looked at his trembling hands, then at Yoruichi, "I can still fight?" he said as he looked at her uncertainly.

Yoruichi simply nodded her head, "Now that's what I'd call a good trade-off." she said grinned like a cheshire cat. Suddenly, the room's visitors were taken by surprise as Naruto suddenly jumping up, wrapping his arms around Yoruichi in a tight hug and then began spinning around in a circle while the blonde laughed hysterically.

"YAHOOO, thank you, thank you for telling me this Yoruichi-chan," Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs before he unexpectedly planted a kiss on the purple haired beauty's cheek, causing Yoruichi to blush furiously, Kisuke's jaw to drop, and Retsu to let out a light chuckle, "I can still protect everyone, I can still protect my friends, dattebayo!" Naruto continued to roar.

However, Naruto's joyous moment came to an end when a small black butterfly entered the room through the front door, causing Kisuke's attention to change from the amusing scene between his acquaintance and his Captain to Captain Unohana as she held out her right hand to allow the small creature to land on it.

Retsu listened in on the message the hell butterfly had, her eyes widening slightly as she heard what it contained, "Hmm...Naruto-kun," she called as the black butterfly left her hand, "It's seems that you've been summoned by the Head Captain."

"Who?" Naruto asked as he let go of Yoruichi.

"The Head Captain, the leader of the entire Gotei 13, the thirteen Shinigami Division Imperial Guards. He is considered the most powerful of all the Shinigami within the Soul Society." Retsu explained to him.

"Woah," Naruto whistled, very impressed, "But how does he know I'm here?" he wondered.

Yoruichi gave a slight cough, bringing his attention to her, "While you were unconscious, the old man came by my division and began asking about a strange power he felt coming from there, so I told him about you, but he didn't seem surprised by your powers and when he left I could've sworn that he was smiling as if something he was expecting to happen just arrived."

"Well I'd better go and meet him," he said as he grabbed his belongings, "Could either of you show me where he is?" he asked the two Captains.

"I'll take him Yoruichi-taicho, I can finish his treatment while we are on our way there," Unohana told her fellow Captain, who nodded in agreement, "Now follow me Naruto-kun, I'll show you to the 1st division." she told the blonde, who hastily put on his clothes and strapped his sword to his side, and handed his books to Yoruichi, asking her to take care of them, then followed the 4th division's leader.

* * *

Naruto's eyes were bulging to the point someone would guess that they were about they were about to pop out of their sockets as he stared at the huge double doors which stood between him and the man inside he was supposed to be meeting. Beside the doors were two very tough looking Shinigami who he guessed were guarding the door from intruders, and by just looking at the building, Naruto could obviously see that this was indeed the 1st Division, the unit which the Sotaicho led.

The former Hokage took in everything that was this massive structure, studying every detail he could find out about it. It was basically just a huge tower, with its own battlements and walls, and architecture of this structure seemed specially designed for defense with a couple of octagon platforms, with each maybe a few stories tall and standing tall on these was a mass of white towers.

"It seems to be a bit overboard, doesn't it?" Naruto said while he sweat drop.

At that the Captain of 4th Division lightly giggled at the blonde's joke, "Maybe, but it has to be able to protect the Sotaicho, so I'm sure this is all worth it."

"Should I know anything before I go in there, like some sort of greeting or something like that?" he asked Unohana, who only gave him a kind smile in response.

"Don't worry so much Naruto-kun, the Head Captain is a good man, just be honest with him and I'm sure you'll both get along splendidly." Unohana reassured him, giving him a pat on the back as she gently pushed him forward as the giant doors slowly creaked open.

Naruto made his way in as he said his goodbye to Retsu and continued his way while the doors closed behind him. He path lead him to a huge assembly hall, with dark red walls that had beams of wood decorated in squares etched into the walls and there was chair sitting on a platform at the other end of the hall, with an old man sitting in it, his red eyes observing the blonde the same way Naruto's blue eyes was observing him.

The old man looked ancient, older than anyone Naruto had ever seen. He was bald and his head was littered with scars, with the two most prominent being a pair of long, perpendicular scars in the shape of an 'X' over his right eye. However, in contrast with his head, he had long white eyebrows that would've left even Guy and Lee in awe, and a very long white beard. His clothing consisted of the Shinigami uniform and wore the Captain's haori over his shoulders.

Naruto could tell from a glance that this person had the same wisdom and experience that which his grandfather figure, Sarutobi Hiruzen had, and the air of someone who had been alive long enough that he would hardly be surprised by anything. And what's more, Naruto could detect an amazing amount of power coming from the old man, and was surprised that such a frail looking body could house that much power.

The old man continued to look at him for a few more seconds before he finally spoke, his voice radiating with power although it had a hint of amusement with it, "Come closer young one and let me get a better look at you," Naruto silently complied and walked forward until he was only a few steps away from the Head Captain. The old man calmly looked him over once more, before a small smile appeared on his face, "Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, we finally meet at last. I am Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Sotaicho of the Gotei 13."

Naruto was surprised that this man knew his full name, he was sure he hadn't mentioned that to Yoruichi or Kisuke, so how in the world did he know, "How do you know my name?" he asked the old man with a raised eyebrow.

"Because your reputation precedes you," Yamamoto told him with amusement as he held onto a bulky walking stick while rose to his feet, "I know a great deal of people who speak very fondly of you around the Seireitei, including my 3rd seat Sarutobi. They've all been hoping that you'd find your way here once you had died."

"So jiji-chan is here," Naruto's eyes lit up excitedly at the thought of him being able to see the old man again, then another thought came to him, "Wait a minute, what all do you exactly know about me, Yamamoto-jiji?" he asked as he gave the old man a cautious glance.

"I know a great deal about you Naruto-kun," Yamamoto said, taking no offence to what Naruto had called him, having learned from Sarutobi years ago that the blonde usually showed his respect like that, "I know that you are the son of Namikaze Minato, even though it was kept a secret through most of your life, I know that you were the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha, that when you still alive during the war you obtained the title of the 'Second Yellow Flash' and I have known since the day you were born that you were the third host to the Kyubi no Yoko." he listed of those things like it was nothing, and it left the younger man to wonder how many people talked about him.

"Wait, you said 'since the day I was born', does that mean you were the Shinigami that sealed away my father's soul and half of Kyubi's chakra?" the former shinobi asked as he looked over the old man, thinking that he looked nothing like the description of the Shinigami he'd been told about.

"No, no I am not that Shinigami," Yamamoto answered as his eyes gained a faraway look, as if he was remembering something from long ago, "That was one of the original Shinigami, he and I are the only ones left of our generation. But unlike I, who've tried to improved the Shinigami's way over the centuries, he has stayed the course of the old ways, like making contracts with humans at the cost of the user's soul. In this time that is considered a forgotten art." he said gravely.

"_So that's the deal..._" Naruto thought sadly, "So if that Shinigami didn't make the contract, my dad wouldn't have to be trapped in the Shinigami and I'd have Kyubi's full power." he muttered low enough that he thought only he could hear himself, but he was wrong however.

"What are you talking about Naruto-kun," the old Captain asked as he fixed Naruto with a light glare, "Didn't you pay attention to what I said earlier? Sarutobi is in the Seireitei even though he used the Shiki Fūjin seal as well, all of the previous Hokages have taken up the mantle of being Shinigamis, your father included," he told him, which earned the old man a former blonde shinobi grinning from ear to ear, "You really are the most unique Jinchuriki I've ever met." he said with a sigh, though he didn't seem depressed or mad about it.

"Eh, what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked, and immdiately knew he was entering a very delicate topic right now.

"Hmm...I suppose I should explain the current situation to you, seeing as you are a part of it," Yamamoto commented as he opened both of his eyes to stare at Naruto, "You see Naruto-kun, there are only four Jinchuriki that currently reside within the Soul Society, but there are only two who have gained their Biju's strength."

"Wait, what do you mean by all this, and how have exactly have I gained Kyubi's strength?" Naruto asked nervously, slightly fearing what the answer would be.

Yamamoto's eyes opened a little "As you are already aware of, when the Kyubi died, its chakra was transferred to you which allowed you the ability to use jutsu for as long as you did, and when your chakra was converted into reiryoku, the same thing happened to the Kyubi's chakra. And what I am saying about the Jinchuriki is true, there really are only four of you that have come to the Soul Society," Naruto stood there, stunned by this piece of information, "It's seems that very few of the Jinchuriki could truly escape the hatred of their Biju or of their own. In their deaths, those poor souls either cursed the living world so much it consumed their souls, or their Biju's hatred took over their hosts, turning them into Hollows." he paused as he saw the horrified look on Naruto's face.

Naruto couldn't believe this revelation, it just didn't possible to him, but he pressed on and managed to ask, "Wh-Who are the other t-three that didn't turn."

Yamamoto waited for a moment before deciding to answer, "Two of them are your predecessors, your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and Uzumaki Mito, and the last one being the very first Jinchuriki, the Rikudo Sage. To this day, neither the Rikudo Sage nor I can guess the reason why it is only the four of you who were able to cross over while the others couldn't; maybe it was because it was your family's genes that saved you, who knows." he stated sadly.

"B-But what about B-Bee, h-he and H-Hachibi were friends, they worked together even better than me and Kyubi! A-And G-Gaara was freed from Shukaku, they both should be here!" he said despreately, trying to not believe in the old Shinigami's words.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, we looked long and hard for those two, but we could not find their souls...but after you were sent here it was reported that the bodies of those two were surrounded by Hollows, meaning they were most likely turned before we could save them." Yamamoto said with a heavy sigh.

"I…see" was all Naruto was able to manage before he looked down, hiding his face as tears slowly rolled off his cheeks, "_B-Bee and G-Gaara didn't make it, but why...WHY DAMMIT!_" those thoughts roared in his mind as he silently cried.

Yamamoto pressed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, "Naruto-kun, I can't promise you much, but I can promise that yours and the other's secret are well kept to the point that no one knows they have had any connections to the beasts," he said in attempt to cheer the boy up, "You can live your new life peacefully like the one you deserved when you were alive, or you can take your new power and see it as an opportunity, for you have the ability to become a Shinigami."

Naruto stopped crying and looked up at the old man in shock, "Are you sure, do you really think that _I_ can become Shinigami?" he asked.

"Yes Naruto-kun I believe you can, because if the things I've heard about you are true, then it is very possible," the old man said, his voice radiating his confidence in what his belief was, "Now Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, you stand at a crossroads. Either you make use of your new powers and become a Shinigami of the Gotei 13, or you can live out your new life peacefully in the Soul Society. It is your choice and your choice only, if you choose not to become a Shinigami I will not argue with your decision."

Naruto didn't even need a split second to think about it, it was either live out the rest of his existence quietly, or become a warrior of the afterlife. Naruto wiped up his tears and gave the old man his trademark fox-grin, "Count me in Yamamoto-jiji!"

"Excellent Naruto-kun, but now that you have chosen to, I will need to instruct you the history of the Soul Society as well as the hierarchy and military structure," Yamamoto said as he made his way to his chair while a feeling of dread suddenly weld up inside of Naruto, "Sit, sit Naruto-kun, we have much to talk about."

How many hours had passed since they had began, how long had he been here was the only thought that Naruto could think of as he sat on the hard wooden floor, while he was inside the dull assembly hall with nothing else but the old man's boring lecture to preoccupied his time, It was a living hell for him! He couldn't really help the fact that he had pulled a Shikamaru a few times and nodded off, only to be abruptly woken up when the old man slammed his staff onto the floor, then resumed exactly where he left off of, it was madness.

However Naruto had been paying attention to the best of his ability when it came to things like the hierarchy and military structure of the Soul Society. The entire Soul Society was ruled by the Spirit King, who lived in a separate dimension, which Naruto voiced that he should be here to watch over the Soul Society, only to receive a hit to the head by Yamamoto's stick, and then learned of the different branches of the government for Soul Society which are the Gotei 13, the nobility, and the Central 46.

He learned that the Central 46 is comprised of forty men, gathered from all over the Soul Society, and six judges. These men are in charge of trying all Shinigami crimes, whether they were committed in the Soul Society or the Human World and that once a decision had been made, it is never overturned and that they answer to no one except the Spirit King and the Royal Family.

The noble families were a prestigious group of aristocrats who mainly controlled a very substantial amount of influence over the Central 46. It was like Konoha's systems, with there being roughly around a dozen or so houses, but out of all of them, four of them carried the most weight. The lower houses mainly served the four and they couldn't make any serious changes without the backing of one of these four families, with the two most prestigious being the Kuchiki family, and the Shihoin family.

Yamamoto then went onto the military force, which Naruto actually paid attention throughout the whole thing, much to Yamamoto's surprise, and learned that it consisted of three main branches.

The first and most well known was the Gotei 13, which was obviously made up of thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions, with each numbering roughly around two hundred or so Shinigami. Each division was commanded by a Captain, a Vice-Captain and other seated officers thank ranked from 3rd to 20th, and overall command coming from the Captain-Commander himself.

The second largest branch was the Onmitsukidō, now this was the branch that Naruto liked the most. Although information on them was classified, Yamamoto kept hinting to Naruto that they were very much like the shinobi of his world, or more precisely the ANBU. He also learned that it has been traditionally tied to the Shihoin family, and that Yoruichi held the position of being the leader of both the Onmitsukidō and the 2nd Division.

And then there was the Kidoshu, which were theKido Corps. An even more secretive branch of the military in which the members excelled in the art of Kido. Little was known about its activities or of its members, with only those Shinigami who excelled greatly at Kido were recruited, and that its Captain and seated officers were rarely seen.

Finally Yamamoto explained to him the unofficial Zero Division, the Royal Guard. It is a unit of Captain class Shinigami who watch over and protect the Spirit King and the Royal Family, and considering what this unit had, it was obvious that it was a super powered force that would be unrivalled on the field of combat. Naruto also had the nice surprise of finding out that a lot of the members were the previous Kages, including the Shodai Hokage, the Nidaime Hokage, and his father were members of this illustrious group, and that they were being lead by none other than the Rikudo Sage.

"And that just about covers everything Naruto-kun," Yamamoto finished as he stood up, "Are you ready to begin?" he asked the blonde.

"Ready whenever you are Yamamoto-jiji!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Excellent, and you were lucky enough to come in a week before the new year started for Shinō Academy, so transferring you in shall be simple enough."

It took a few moments for Naruto to register what the old man had said, and slowly, his grin dropped from his face and he looked like he had a bomb threw at him, "S-Say what?" Naruto asked, hoping he had misheard.

"Shinō Academy, the Shinigami Academy," Yamamoto told him, "It's where you shall go to for your education to become a Shinigami. You will receive a curriculum that is taught over six years to help prepare you for your life as a Shinigami."

Naruto could only look at the old man in silence, petrified at the news before him.

* * *

"NOOOOO!" this roar rang across all of the Seireitei, with all of its occupancies wondering where it was coming from, although they couldn't find its source and figured whoever it was must be in terrible agony. Yoruichi seemed to voice it the best.

"The poor bastard, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes." she stated before she went to reading Naruto's copy of "Tales of a Gutsy Ninja".

* * *

**Well I hoped you liked it everyone, if no one could tell about the whole foreshadowing thing in the prologue, I don't blame you. After re-reading it over I found it a little vague of a descirption, but anyway I'll try getting this thing updated soonn if I don't get to preoccupied celebrating.**

**Until next time, see you all later!**


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